Hamilton

Get your Red Bull and vodkas ready because this is going to be a good one. Both the Bruins and Devils enter tonight's contest having gained a point in each game they've played so far this season. In the past the reigning Eastern Conference Champions have not faired very well against the Black and Gold. The B's have bested New Jersey eight out of their last nine meetings, but that was then and this "new" Devils team has a Prince of Wales Trophy.

As mentioned in last night's Boston/Carolina recap, Dougie Hamilton officially graduated to his big boy pants and will be staying in the 617 ...

A few weeks ago, Kyle Busch posted his view on the seeming inevitable realignment of teams in the next couple of years. The NHL’s thought process seems to be focused on cleaning up the time zone distribution of its teams and making the TV scheduling (and the advertising that goes with it) more convenient for fans. It has to be an improvement over the current divisions, right?

I made a case in the comments section of that post for a 16-14 East-West split (below) that made exceptions to the time zone rule in order to maintain current rivalries (Detroit – Chicago) and build new ones (Nashville to the East with other relatively new franchises in Carolina and Florida).